Contact centers in their various forms are generally known. Contact centers are generally used by organizations to receive calls directed to the organization and to automatically deliver the calls to agents of the organization based upon some algorithm.
One form of a contact center is a call center. A call center functions to receive calls through the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Calls received through the PSTN may be received with such information as DNIS and ANI information. From the DNIS and ANI information, a controller of the call center may determine an intended destination of the call and an identity of the caller. From the intended destination of the call and identifier of the caller, the call center may select an agent that has the best qualifications to handle the call.
Contact centers differ from call centers in being able to handle calls through additional communication mediums (e.g., the Internet). However, contact centers function in a similar manner in being able to identify call targets and callers and in their ability to select agents accordingly.
While the methods used by contact centers is effective in connecting agents with callers, they do not always select the best agent to handle the call. Agent selection is typically based upon an arbitrary set of skills attributed to agents by an operator of the call center. Agent selection based upon the arbitrary set of skills often result in agent selections that do not always meet the caller's or agent's needs. Accordingly, a need exists for a better method of assigning agents to calls that is less dependent upon the arbitrary skills attributed to agents by an operator of the call center.